After the apocalypse, what would you save? What would you fight for?

Decades after the apocalypse, a group of survivors struggling to stop the dawn of a new dark age, inadvertently spark a war with a country in the grips of famine, and encounter supernatural forces that might destroy the Old World forever.------------

Full Synopsis

The End cost humanity six billion lives. Almost every person vanished, the lights went out, computers turned to dust, and planes fell from the sky. The Vanished left behind a handful of scattered survivors, in a world made empty and quiet.

Forty years on, civilization is failing. The ways of the Old World are being forgotten, and the original survivors are ageing. All that stands between the British Isles and a new Dark Age is the mission of New Canterbury, desperate to save the books, technology and knowledge needed to begin again.

Famine has forced refugees to wander in their thousands. Anger against the city's hoarding of resources is growing. In the wild lands surrounding New Canterbury, old grudges fester, and supernatural forces have awoken. Somewhere, an army is on the move, hell-bent on ending the Old World forever.

Product description

Product Description

After the apocalypse, what would you save? What would you fight for?

Decades after the apocalypse, a group of survivors struggling to stop the dawn of a new dark age, inadvertently spark a war with a country in the grips of famine, and encounter supernatural forces that might destroy the Old World forever.------------

Full Synopsis

The End cost humanity six billion lives. Almost every person vanished, the lights went out, computers turned to dust, and planes fell from the sky. The Vanished left behind a handful of scattered survivors, in a world made empty and quiet.

Forty years on, civilization is failing. The ways of the Old World are being forgotten, and the original survivors are ageing. All that stands between the British Isles and a new Dark Age is the mission of New Canterbury, desperate to save the books, technology and knowledge needed to begin again.

Famine has forced refugees to wander in their thousands. Anger against the city's hoarding of resources is growing. In the wild lands surrounding New Canterbury, old grudges fester, and supernatural forces have awoken. Somewhere, an army is on the move, hell-bent on ending the Old World forever.

I've been a bookworm since I was knee-high to a grasshopper. I've been a fan of sci-fi and horror since I was a teen (centuries ago, I'm 47) and in the last couple of years have become a big fan of dystopian stories.

This one intrigued me for two reasons - the author is British (as am I, despite that I live over here in the US) and the mechanism of this world-changing event is rather unique. No zombies, no plague, no bombs, just a quiet disappearance of most of the population.

How and with who the author starts the story really had me hooked. The main story takes place 40 years after this start, however, we are gifted with some of the best flashbacks (interludes here) I've read. Such a trope can be annoying in a story. Here it was anything but. Each time it added weight to the "now" and fleshed out the characters more whilst building up one of the big, bad mysteries today's survivors are dealing with.

As one might imagine, what we are mainly dealing with is humanity in all its ugliness but also its strength and drive to survive. Interestingly, one gets a sense (most of the time) that people actually value life now and don't throw it away easily.

There is a side-story that stretched the suspension of disbelief a little too far though I quickly came to care for the characters and I'm looking forward to how this piece will develop and tie in with the main arc.

Our main protagonist, Norman, is also a little unusual. He was born after the event so has no real experience of life before. He has been guided by a (very interesting) character who is from the Old World but at this point is doubting his wisdom, chafing at the idea that he is to be the next leader of our main group and is a rather reluctant hero.

Overall, interesting, enjoyable and intriguing. I almost felt as though I'd like the answers to what is happening NOW (especially with food) rather than the event itself, that is how clever the author is.

The sequel is already in my queue and I hear the third in the series is due to be released soon.

Great writing! he is not one to grab you by the hand and off you go!!! but he is one to put the arm around your shoulder and walk you through his words turned into a story that you yourself feel involved in.I will be buying his other books on this continuing story, the fact that an author gives you so many of his words for so little of a price tells me that he has not lost his footing with reality, so many authors charge such a high price for the continuation of a saga that I just don't finish them, they lose touch with reality and what the world around them in the " now " is going through so yes, I will continue to buy this authors books and I am glad I found him.

This was a well written book. The author did a good job of character development although the bouncing back and forth with his characters and how they got to their current status was a little hard to follow. The interesting part about possible interference from the future came in the last pages of this first book. A little less development and more of the interest someone from the future has on what happened would have been more to my taste, hence the 2 star rating.

I worried that this would be a plodding, dull read after a few pages, but then settled in for the ride. The author wraps you into the story and slowly builds the reality that, honestly, sucks you in sneakily. I've read books 1, 2 and 3 and enjoyed almost every minute. There is some horrible violence, being dystopian after all, just be prepared to be saddened by the actions of the characters. Lord of the Rings meets The Stand

Although some parts are a little too similar to Stephen King's The Stand, I enjoyed the ride and the mystery. I like how it is unraveling over time, but I wish there was a conclusion in this book. Instead I have to decide whether I want to get the next two just to finish a narrative that should have had some feeling of completion with this book. I liked the characters and will probably complete the series.